Ch.Pavie Decesse 2010 750ml

Wine Advocate #205, Feb 28, 2013 by Robert Parker Jr
Opaque purple, with notes of mulberry and kirsch liqueur leaning toward blacker fruits, subtle smoked meats and some lead pencil and vanillin, this is another brawny, full-bodied, yet remarkably precise and fresh style of wine despite its sensational extract and power. Give it 5-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30-40 years.

Chateau Pavie Decesse belongs to Gerard Perse, a man whose dogmatic pursuit of "modern style" Bordeaux wine, borrowing techniques advocated by the garagiste estates but on a larger scale, having entered the region in 1993 when he acquired Château Monbousquet. Although Château Pavie remains his flagship estate, Chateau Pavie Decesse was actually purchased one year earlier in 1997, in some ways a stepping-stone towards his consequent acquisition. Although in some ways Pavie Decesse is overshadowed by the more illustrious Château Pavie, this is a wonderful estate and many prefer it to Perse's jewel in the crown.
Pavie Decesse is a much smaller vineyard than its grander sibling Château Pavie with just 9.1 hectares of vines perched further up on the crest of the slope on a chalky/limestone soil. Unlike Pavie, the wine is more of a Monocepage with 90% of the vines being Merlot, the remaining 10% Cabernet Franc. The vines are a respectable 43 years old on average. A similar draconian level of green harvesting is practice at Pavie Decesse as at Pavie, with vines pruned down to six buds. The grapes are picked by hand, sorted and then fermented in nine temperature-controlled wooden vats for three weeks. Approximately 2,000 cases are produced per annum with no second label.